Behavioral Family Therapy

Description of the Strategy

The intervention known as behavioral family therapy (BFT) has its origins in the convergence of two broad theoretical traditions: the behavior and family therapies. The plural behavioral therapies indicates an intellectual journey of increasing theoretical sophistication and range of applications during the half century or so since operant and classical conditioning principles of learning were first applied systematically to children's clinical problems. Applied behavior analysis, behavior modification and therapy, cognitive behavior therapy, marital behavior therapy, and behavioral play therapy have all contributed to present-day BFT. Among the seminal influences (described later) on the development of its theoretical and practical foundations are those of Albert Bandura at Stanford University and Gerald Patterson at the Oregon Social Learning Center.

The systemic ...